The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team halted a
three-game skid on Sunday with a 14-11 victory over visiting
Linfield College (OR) at Farquhar Field. Riding a 9-3 halftime
lead, the Bulldogs held off a final push by the Wildcats that
included eight second-period goals.
Redlands jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with junior attack
player Diana Frey (Silver Spring, MD) initiating the scoring just
16 seconds into the game. Sophomore midfielder Christy Smith (St.
Louis Park, MN), senior midfielder Liza Gray (Centennial CO), and
junior attack player Mary Shepherd (Dallas, TX) each put one away
in the first nine minutes of action to give the Bulldogs a solid
advantage.
After allowing just three goals in the opening period, Redlands
closed out the final 7:26 of the half with unanswered scores from
Smith, Shepherd, junior attack player Haley Kern (Portland, OR),
and junior attack player Anna Moriarty (Oak Park, IL).
During the second period, Linfield fought back, earning five
consecutive goals in the first 15 minutes of action to pull within
two.
The teams traded goals in the ensuing minutes before the
Bulldogs gained two scores from Smith and one from freshman
midfielder Erika Busch (West Linn, OR). Despite a late-game rally
by the Wildcats that included three consecutive goals,
Redlands' Kern put away another insurance goal with 27
seconds remaining for the 14-11 win.
In addition to her two goals, Shepherd provided two assists for
the Bulldogs, while Moriarty contributed two assists along with her
single score. Senior defender Julia Chope (San Francisco, CA)
patrolled the field with six ground balls as senior defender Amy
Gulbranson (Bainbridge Island, WA) added five. Senior midfielder
Lauren Matta (Holyoke, MA) tallied nine draw controls, one goal,
and three ground balls. Besides her goal, Gray added four draw
controls and one assist for the Bulldogs.
Redlands (3-3) hosts a slew of games this week, facing off
against Birmingham-Southern College (AL) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.,
Oberlin College (OH) on Thursday at 7 p.m., and then SUNY Potsdam
(NY) at 12 noon on Friday. All games take place at Farquhar Field.